ATM 'skimmers' get 33 months in federal prison

Staff reports

Updated 9:58 pm, Monday, November 19, 2012

Two Romanian citizens who were part of an ATM "skimming" scheme that targeted banks in Greenwich and Stamford have been sentenced to more than two years in federal prison and will face deportation after they are released.

Marian Caraivan, 43, and Mustafa Timur, 34, were sentenced Friday by Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to 33 months in prison, according to a news release by Thomas Carson, spokesman for U.S. Attorney David Fein.

Cariavan and Timur conspired with others to install skimming devices on ATMs at three JP Morgan Chase Bank locations in Greenwich and Stamford, according to court documents. The devices were able to capture information encoded on magnetic strips of bank cards used by ATM customers, federal authorities said.

"The co-conspirators also placed devices on the ATMs that contained hidden pinhole cameras," Carson said, citing court documents. "(The cameras) were positioned in such a way as to be able to record the personal identification numbers that bank customers keyed into the ATMs to gain access to their accounts."

The stolen information was then used to create counterfeit bank cards that allowed them to withdraw money from the customers' accounts.

Cariavan and Timur took information from about 100 customer accounts, stealing more than $75,000. The bank has reimbursed its customers.

The duo was arrested on Aug. 14, 2011, at a Chase Bank in Harrison, N.Y., where they had also installed a device. They have been detained since their arrest and each pleaded guilty in Bridgeport federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. They also pleaded guilty to charges related to the Harrison incident in New York state court.

Caraivan and Timur were ordered to pay $75,774.19 in restitution, Carson said.

Attorneys for both men argued that they were minor members of a conspiracy, and didn't profit from it as much as the major players in the scheme. The money was used to support their families at home in Romania, according to court documents. Attorneys for both men attached several photos of their clients with family members to sentencing memorandums, in which they asked for lesser sentences.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas P. Morabito prosecuted the case, which was investigated by federal authorities, along with State Police and the Greenwich, Hartford, Stamford and Shelton police departments. JP Morgan Chase Bank assisted in the investigation.

In 2011, Greenwich police assisted in a similar investigation that led to the arrest of 42-year-old Ahmet Cilek, of Turkey. Cilek installed skimming devices at 11 ATMs, stealing more than $336,000 from customers of banks and credit unions in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, including in Darien, where he was caught.

Cilek pleaded guilty in that case and will be sentenced Wednesday in New Haven.